Create your own GeoGuessr game using five Google Map street view locations. NO membership is required! These challenges show actual views of mystery locations for people to guess where they are. (See this review of GeoGuessr to see how the challenges work.) Move the person to the desired map location to set a location for each round. When complete, GeoSettr generates a URL that will take people to your unique GeoGuessr page.

In the Classroom

Make geography come to life by gamifying it! Create (or have students create) landform games (what do these locations have in common), culture games, travel collections, etc. Use this tool to explore world cultures (or languages), geography, historical locations, famous battle locations, and more. Demonstrate how to create a game, then have students create and play games of their own. Pair this activity with What Was There, reviewed here, and have students use an online tool such as Interactive Two Circle Venn Diagram, reviewed here, to compare and contrast changes over time.

The Young People's Trust for the Environment (UK) offers a large selection of fact sheets about animals and environmental issues. The information is primarily text-based. Scroll through the alphabetical list of animals to view available fact sheets. Sheets contain an image along with other pertinent information such as habitat, size, food, and daily life. Click the blue box on the upper left side of the page to download and print all information in PDF format. Note: Only text appears on downloaded sheets; images appear as X's. Choose the Environmental Facts link to explore fact sheets with subjects ranging from Acid Rain through Zoos. This site was created in the United Kingdom, so you may notice some slight spelling differences from American English.

In the Classroom

Use this site as an anticipatory set or "activator" to introduce a unit or lesson on a projector or interactive whiteboard. Bookmark this site for use with any animal or environmental unit. You will need to pair weaker readers with a stronger reader since the information is almost entirely text. Allow students to choose an animal or environmental topic from the resources available and become "experts." Have students create an annotated image including text boxes and related links using a tool such as Thinglink, reviewed here. Challenge students use Ourboox, reviewed here. Ourboox creates beautiful page-flipping digital books in minutes, and you can embed video, music, animation, games, maps and more. Have students create maps of animal habitats using Animaps, reviewed here. Students can add text, images, and location stops.

Take an in-depth look at volcanoes. Begin with a global perspective to find plate boundaries and active volcanoes around the globe. Explore the three common types of volcanoes to learn how they form and their impact on the earth around them. Go inside a volcano and take a 3D look at a cross section of a typical volcano. When finished, build your own volcano and watch it erupt.

In the Classroom

Virtual Volcano is perfect for viewing on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Students may also enjoy exploring this site on their own. Be sure to include this site on your class website for students to access both in and outside of class for further practice. Have students create a simple infographic sharing their findings using Easel.ly, reviewed here or Venngage, reviewed here. Use an online poster creator, such as PicLits, reviewed here, to demonstrate student-created volcanoes. Be sure to label with the different viscosity and gas conditions used to create the volcano.

The Historical Marker Database is an illustrated and searchable website for finding and viewing historical road markers. Information includes photographs, marker locations, and more. Search and browse the site in several ways. Find markers near your location, enter a keyword in the search bar, or choose from category options. Most entries include a short description, map location of the marker, the transcription, and links to other nearby markers. This site is rather text-heavy. It is full of great information. There is also a link to a free Google Field Trip app that uses these markers.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Use the Historical Marker Database to find information and locations of important events near your hometown or relating to any area of study. For example, choose the Civil Rights link to find markers noting important events related to Civil Rights. Then have students create a simple infographic sharing their findings using Easel.ly, reviewed here or Venngage reviewed here. Have students create maps using Animaps (reviewed here). Students can add text, images, and location stops! Have students create timelines of historic events near your school (with music, photos, videos, and more) using Capzles (reviewed here).

This grass roots effort by a Tennessee science teacher spawned a monthly Twitter chat between high school science students in MANY locations and practicing scientists in the "real world." The site looks plain vanilla, but the topic is dynamite! Find information, preparation, and topics for upcoming chats, basic information about the chat formats, chat archives, past pre-chat prep resources, and Twitter handles for the scientists and teachers who participate in the chats. Don't forget to follow @2footgiraffe, the instigating teacher, and click through to his blog for some of the back story on how he was able to convince school administration to unblock Twitter (and other tales of tech challenges). The TeachersFirst editors met Mr. Taylor at the ISTE conference and knew this was a resource our users would want to know about.

In the Classroom

Even if you do not choose to join this particular Twitter chat with practitioners in the field, mark this simple site as a professional development resource to learn how to plan and organize successful Twitter chats between your students and the outside world. If you teach another discipline, try searching on Wefollow, reviewed here for people in the field that connect to your curriculum: writers, artists, curators, engineers, and more. Need to learn more about Twitter? Start with help from TeachersFirst's Twitter for Teachers page. Extend the curriculum for your gifted students by having them help organize a chat with professionals and write the questions.

Cosmo Learning aggregates an extensive library of subjects (42 total), courses (thousands to browse), video lectures, documentaries, images, books and other multimedia in dozens of subjects, all from sources all over the world. Their goal is to be a free online school. Subjects range from Anthropology to Entrepreneurship to Political Studies to Veterinarian Medicine. Find specific content using the search feature. You can also search using links to academic subjects or type of materials such as courses, documentaries, videos, or images. Registration isn't required, but allows you to save and rate features on the site. Be warned: there is a LOT to explore at this site! If your district blocks YouTube, videos may not be viewable. You could always view the videos at home and bring them to class "on a stick" to share. Use a tool such as KeepVid reviewed here to download the videos from YouTube.

In the Classroom

Use materials from Cosmo Learning as part of any unit or lesson plan. Use materials on the site for flipped lessons or share with gifted learners as an enhancement to current course content. Using the flipped classroom format is helpful if YouTube is blocked at your school. Share lessons on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Teachers of gifted can share this with their students whose interests fall outside typical school curriculum to encourage independent study or projects. Provide the link to this site on your class wiki or website for students (and families) to access anytime.

Put math (and related science) fears behind you with podcasts with text transcripts from The Math Dude. The Math Dude makes complex math problems easy to decipher with his easy to follow explanations and tips. Listen to podcasts while viewing text explaining common math questions from basic algebra through SAT prep questions. Be sure to check out the "The Math Dude's Most Popular Tips" and "The Math Dude's Archives." Download podcasts as MP3 files and play through iTunes, QuickTime Player, and RealPlayer installed on a local computer. You can also simply play them from the site. Just be sure you click on the podcast play button and not one of the annoying videos or other ads! This site is loaded with advertisements. However, there is some great material underneath them all. NOTE: This site includes tools for blog users to interact with others. Any visitor can comment on the posts and podcasts or participate in Forums. There are also links to other tip blogs on the web page. Check your school policies on students posting comments, etc. to the web and whether they are permitted to do so anonymously and/or with name or initials.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Check ahead of time to be sure this site is not blocked at school. If it is blocked, consider subscribing to the blog via iTunes to avoid all the ads. External speakers connected to the computer will help broadcast the sound throughout your classroom. Help students follow along by opening the podcast article (transcript) ad-free using the Readability add-on reviewed here for your web browser. Project the ad-free article as you play the podcast. Share the link on your class web page or select specific episodes links to offer support for concepts you are studying, such as absolute value or sine/cosine. Extend the concept of The Math Dude by having students write and produce their own math tip podcasts or English tip podcasts to explain the grammar demons that haunt their writing. Use a site such as Spreaker (reviewed here).

With so much talk about climate change, which information is correct and important? Use "Big Facts" for a new way to visualize facts about climate change, agriculture, and food security. More importantly, the reliable information offered through this research-based program counters many of the misrepresented and incorrect offerings in the news and other sources. Search for relevant facts and infographics by region or specific issue. All facts, figures, and material are cited with the original source. Site content has been peer reviewed.

In the Classroom

As climate change's effect is being seen on every region of the Earth, this site is a great resource for finding accurate information and figures. Share this site in conjunction with your science curriculum as well as in government, current events, and geography classes. Click on one of the specific regions of the Earth or choose from the various topics in the icons along the bottom. Divide the World's seven regions among student groups in class. View the various impacts including undernourishment, population, dietary change, food waste, climate impact on crops, disasters, mitigation, and adaptation. Have groups present their regions to the class. View the comparisons by region by choosing one of the various impacts. Click the Climate Impact on People icon and view the infographic information as a class using a whiteboard or projector. Use the information presented to view the source material and understand the science behind the numbers. Use these facts as a springboard to further discussions about climate change impacts. Talk about what governments can do both proactively and in response to the changes. Besides the really large ways to cut carbon emissions, what are the little things others can do to make a difference? Begin a grassroots campaign to make small changes. The many infographics on this site provide valuable experience reading and understanding graphic presentation of information as required by Common Core.

Here is Today offers a visual look at time. Click Okay+ to the next step in time - from today to this month. Click again to go to the year, and keep moving through eras of geologic time until the creation of the universe millions of years ago. Each step includes an arrow pointing to this day in relation to the rest of the timeline.

In the Classroom

View on your interactive whiteboard or projector to help students visualize and gain perspective of events over time. Here is Today would be great to use when studying dinosaurs, in biology class, in Earth science or geology units, or just as part of a philosophical discussion on the world today. This is a great tool to share with students where "our time" fits into the continuum of the earth's
'life." This site could be used with younger students as well. Share the easier concepts (day, month, year) visually during your calendar math lessons. Extend the concept of proportionality by having older math students create simple visual timelines to scale showing their own life vs the life of the United States and other major, longer periods.

Teaching NGSS Engineering Design Through Media offers a large collection of media-based resources to bring engineering (and Next Gen Science) to students at all grade levels. Think of design as problem solving by applying science and math. Begin browsing by choosing from grade level options for descriptions of activities including grade level and type of resource offered. Each activity includes additional resource links, correlations to Next Gen Science Standards, and support materials. Discover the most popular resources by viewing the number of times other users designated them as favorites. Learn about wind powered vehicles, mechanical arms, designing a skyscraper, and much more. Everything on the site is free; however, after viewing three resources you will be prompted to create your free account. Account creation offers the ability to save and favorite resources.

In the Classroom

Use this site on a projector or interactive whiteboard to discuss and informally assess prior knowledge as you start your study of many different STEM-based topics. Use this site for enrichment or to help non-readers understanding concepts through video. Include it on your class web page for students to access both in and out of class. Have students create a simple infographic sharing their findings using Easel.ly, reviewed here or Venngage reviewed here. Have students create a word cloud of the important terms they learn from this site using a tool such as Wordle reviewed here, Tagxedo reviewed here, or WordItOut reviewed here.

Explore the powerful forces of space weather through articles, pictures, and interactives at Space Weather Center. Choose from the topics of Amazing Plasmas, Living with a Star, Protective Shield, and Storm Alert. Each topic begins with a short overview, some interactives, and a list of links to extended information. The Education section offers Curricular Guides, PowerPoint Presentations, and more for easy download in PDF format. You can even send a "spacy weather" ecard!

In the Classroom

Use information at Space Weather Center with any study of the universe, stars, or weather. Use an online tool such as Interactive Two Circle Venn Diagram (reviewed here) to compare weather in outer space to weather on earth. Have students create a word cloud (sorry about the pun) of the important terms they learn from this site using a tool such as Wordle (reviewed here), Tagxedo (reviewed here), or WordItOut (reviewed here). Have students create an annotated image including text boxes and related links using a tool such as Thinglink, reviewed here. Share this site on your class website or blog for students to explore at home or during computer time at school. Include a link to games and activities on classroom computers.

Create highly stylized map images with this tool. This tool is very similar to the Photoshop layers palette and easily creates map layers using data already available in Open Street Map. Create layers using backgrounds, roads, labels, and satellite imagery. Modify the layers' color, opacity, and brightness. Easily highlight or color portions of the map you want to standout. Share the image you create via Pinterest or Tumblr. Share your map image also by a link. Use precision detail with image overlays and layer effects, even creating masks for other layers. The tool can also be used to create a regular map in the colors you want. This site takes some tinkering to figure out but yields colorful and interesting maps.

In the Classroom

Use to focus on and compare resources found in various communities or geographic locations. Identify where natural resources are concentrated in the world. Compare street design in various communities, concentration of population, and more. Create artistic representations of various areas as a project. Include this tool for your tech savvy students to try as you study different types of maps. Challenge them to create a map that has traditional elements such as terrain, and also uses color and image tools to emphasize or communicate information about a location, such as toxic waste locations or musical "scenes." Art teachers can suggest this tool for students to create geo-based artworks or create images to use in Earth Day posters.

The State Archives of Florida provides online access to resources that had a significant impact in Florida's history. The collection includes over 176,000 photographs, more than 110 videos, an audio collection, historical and genealogical collection, exhibits, and an online classroom. The online classroom contains lesson plans, online activities, and primary documents of Florida's past. Enjoy folk music from Florida's past or look at Florida in the Civil War. There is a lot here to explore about Florida and beyond.

In the Classroom

In the classroom, integrate primary documents in addition to your text to get a broader picture of history, even if you are not teaching specifically about Florida. Take a closer look at history, through the multiple aspects of video, audio, laws, and land grants. Look at perspectives of Civil War from a southern state. Make biographies of Florida residents come alive with the culture of their time. Compare and contrast Florida and another state. Use an online tool such as the Interactive Two Circle Venn Diagram (reviewed here). Examine the history of space through NASA. You and your students can discover how Civil Rights progressed in Florida. Look at the history of the Seminole tribe as you study native Americans. Challenge students to create an infographic using Easel.ly, reviewed here, or Venngage, reviewed here, about a certain period in Florida's history or to compare Florida and other states. Before beginning the infographic, have students brainstorm or collect ideas on a collaborative bulletin board like Scrumblr reviewed here (quick start- no membership required!). Use this resource to meet Common Core standards about primary sources or writing. Challenge students to produce digital writing and interact with others online.

Looking for some new ideas (and tips) for the science fair? Check out the free material available on this blog created by a PhD in Oceanography who works as an environmental microbiologist. She created the site to coach parents and kids through the science fair process. You will not only find ideas to use for a science fair project, but also the steps to follow to complete a project successfully. Find some great ideas that you can tweak to fit your needs and interests. Find many great ideas for data to collect and explanations of the variables involved in the scientific method. There are great tips for students doing projects, including questions to expect from judges!This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Use information from this site to help students who struggle with te concepts of creating and carrying out a good science fair project. Assign science fair projects as extra credit for students to pursue individualized experiences and knowledge or as a regular part of the curriculum for scientific method. Even if you don't do a full science fair, use ideas form this site to help students envision scientific method through specific examples. Have them make a graphic organizer that shows the progression of steps involved in science investigations. Use a site such as Canva, reviewed here, to create visual graphic organizers. Share this link on your class website during science fair time.

What better way to learn science than by "doing science"? My NASA Data provides satellite images, charts, and graphs to analyze information from real world problems. Where to start? Best place is the Lesson Plan tab. Here, find a variety of lessons that can be used in any classroom. Lessons are sorted by High School, Middle School, Elementary. View climate change lessons, Stand alone lessons (a great way to get started), and 50 or 90 minute lessons. Find great ideas that are multi-day projects. Each lesson plan features outcomes, pre-requisite knowledge, tools, National and AP standards as well as Virginia State standards. Be sure to use the linked vocabulary they provide and view all the lesson links. The included background information, procedures, student questions, and extensions are invaluable in planning the lessons. Be sure to go to the bottom of each lesson page to click on the Teachers Notes and to even view the lesson without the standards.

In the Classroom

For younger grades, learn about "Basic Line Plots" or "Creating a Bar Graph." There are many other lessons including "The Sun's Energy," "Solar Power," and "Seasons." For Middle School Students, identify "Aruba Cloud Cover Measured by Satellite," "Is Grandpa Right, Were Winters Colder When He Was A Boy," or "Does Humidity Affect Cloud Formation?" Older students can discover "Variable Affecting Earth's Albedo," "March of the Polar Bears: Global Change, Sea Ice, and Wildlife Migration," "Carbon Monoxide and Population Density" or "Hurricane Research." Though there is a large amount of lessons that coordinate with environmental issues, be sure to click on all the lesson plans to view all the possibilities. There is an unbelievable amount of topics to choose from that can fit in any science curriculum or many other type of classrooms at any age. History classes can use "1492: Using Data to Explain a Journey." Be sure to test out all links at school to be sure it is not blocked by your school filter.

Get involved with gardening throughout the community using ideas from Kids Gardening! Explore news articles discussing different types of gardening, gardens in schools, and new ideas for successful gardening. Choose from the Family Gardening or School Gardening sections for how-to guides, lessons, projects. Learn how to make the most of "gardening moments." Be sure to take some time to explore this site for many useful ideas for indoor and outdoor gardening projects.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

If you aren't lucky enough to have outdoor gardening space, take advantage of ideas offered for indoor gardens such as terrariums and container gardening. Be sure to check out the extensive lesson library to search by theme, standards, season, and more. Use the Growing Poems ideas from the site as part of your poetry or plant unit. After starting your garden project, have students create an annotated image of their plants including text boxes and related links using a tool such as Photocat, reviewed here. Be sure to check out the Grants & Fundraising link for information on raising money for your classroom or school garden!

This one-stop source is a curation of images and videos to engage students in science. Registration is required to access the collection. Created by a teacher, TackTile is an easy, efficient way of finding great science starters from around the Internet. Choose from science subjects: Chemistry, Biology, Geology/Earth Science, Astronomy, Engineering, and Physics. Choose a topic within the subject area (such as Volcanoes and Igneous Rocks in Geology). Each topic is divided into subtopics. View the tiles in each subtopic. Tiles are captioned with information that relates to the subtopic. Below the tiles are Activity and Demonstration Ideas to use with each subtopic. Click on any tile to view in a pop-up window. View the images directly or download easily from TackTile. Copyright information is included with the images. Videos can be played directly within the pop-up window or click to view on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, they may not be viewable. You could always view the videos at home and bring them to class "on a stick" to share. Use a tool such as KeepVid reviewed here to download the videos from YouTube.

In the Classroom

This tool has great ideas and ready to use images and videos from around the Internet. Use as a starter activity to engage students and "hook" them into the lesson. Use the images or videos to discover misconceptions, find prior knowledge before beginning the lesson, or just to interest students in the topic. Show the image or video on an interactive whiteboard or projector. Be sure to share this site (with a log in) on your class website for students to use when preparing individual or group presentations. Use resources in these tiles to engage students in creative writing about science or to explain the concepts learned at the end of the unit.

Find videos about water resources from all areas of the U.S. Some of the specific topics include the Water Cycle, Sierra Nevada Snow Pack & Snow Melt, Los Angeles & Water Imports, and others. View the transcript of any video by clicking on the Transcript tab of the player. Click the turnaround arrow in the top right of each video frame to see the "flip side" of the video "cue card" for a list of keywords and a description, Even though the larger NBC Learn site is a fee-based subscription, this is a free resource.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Use the full screen mode on an interactive whiteboard or projector. Be sure to place this link on your classroom page for students to view the videos and identify factors that affect the sustainability of water in various areas of the country. Encourage your students to create their own investigations about the issues with water resources. Use this site as the starting point for individual or group projects into factors affecting water systems. Have cooperative learning groups connect information from the videos and impact on the various parts of the water cycle. Trace the path of a water molecule through each of these water systems. If animals and plants in these areas were to have a voice, what would they say about their water resource? Have students create blogs, speaking as a plant or animal. If you are beginning the process of integrating technology, have students create blogs sharing their learning and understanding using Loose Leaves, reviewed here. This blog creator requires no registration.

Explore this rich collection of clever YouTube videos of songs with on-screen lyrics to learn important science concepts! Be sure to check out some pretty clever songs including The Rock Cycle, Chemical Compounds in Cells, and the DNA song. The lyrics to the song are shown below the video on each YouTube page to easily copy and paste for students to follow along. If your district blocks YouTube, they may not be viewable. You could always view the videos at home and bring them to class "on a stick" to share. Use a tool such as KeepVid reviewed here to download the videos from YouTube. Even if your students roll their eyes at the videos/songs, the concepts (and tunes) will definitely stick in their minds! If your district blocks YouTube, the videos may not be viewable. You could always view them at home and bring them to class "on a stick" to share. Use a tool such as ClipGrab, reviewed here, to download the videos from YouTube.

In the Classroom

Play songs on an Interactive Whiteboard or Projector for the entire class. Embed videos on your teacher page for review by students. Use these songs as an introduction to units. After viewing a video, brainstorm to identify words students know or are not familiar with. Copy the lyrics into a document and, as you discuss the material in class, encourage students to annotate the lyrics with notes about the content. Be sure to play the video often throughout the unit to reconnect with material. Challenge your more musical students to team up with a class poet to write your own songs-- for extra credit and extra fun!

This free tool provides math and science interactives that encourage critical thinking. Click to choose an activity: Crash Scene Investigation, Stem Cell Transplant, Design a Cell Phone, Deep Brain Stimulation, and Virtual Knee Replacement Surgery. These topics are sure to grab your attention! Be sure to check out the Teacher Resource Center to find and submit great ideas. Subtitles can be turned on in each of the activities. Actual photos can be viewed by clicking on the camera icon.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Use these engaging activities on an Interactive Whiteboard or on individual computers. Students can record vital information they have learned about each of the interactives to share in a class discussion at the end. Ask questions that connect your class content to the interactives. How is Math or Science useful here? Students can journal what they feel watching these interactives and infer what a person working in that interactive would be thinking or feeling.